Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 15:35:53 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: John Messina Subject: Dogs & Monticello Park Comments: To: Va Bird List MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Today John and I went to Monticello Park and saw by the concrete slab bridge, to our dismay, a sign with rules for dog exercise areas in which owners can let their dogs go off their leashes. A nice, polite young couple we encountered there had a spaniel pup who was tearing all over the park. They were under the impression that they are now free to let their dog run loose in the park. Upon a close reading of the sign, which lists rules generally for dogs in parks in the city, I noted a rule that the boundaries of the official area in which dogs can run unleashed is indicated by posts with pawprints on them. No such posts appear in Monticello Park, and at both entrances to the park are older signs saying all dogs must remain leashed. This is quite confusing, and several scenarios come to my mind: 1. Monticello Park does not, in fact, have a dog exercise area in which dogs can run unleashed; the sign by the bridge merely posts rules for dog owners generally, but its title easily gives the false impression that owners can release their dogs in the park. 2. Monticello Park now has a dog exercise area--but the city has not yet put in posts with pawprints or removed the old signs saying dogs must remain leashed. 3. Monticello Park does not yet have a dog exercise area, but the city is thinking of putting one in there. Does anyone know why the new sign was installed or what the actual dog policy is for the park? I am alarmed at the thought of dogs freely running through the water, destroying plants on the stream banks and hillsides, and flushing thrushes and other birds from their cover. The paranoid thought occurs to me that city officials who resent the activism by birders in recent years to preserve Monticello Park's value to wildlife have decided to get even by allowing dog owners to ruin the park as a birding spot. If this is not the case, then I'd like to advocate that the city remove or replace the new sign with one that more clearly states that dogs may NOT run unleashed in this park. Cathy Messina ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================